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Humbug Mountain is one of the tallest coastal mountains in Oregon.
However, I had read that the views were not the best. On the
other hand, I read that the forest along the trail was nice, so I
decided to do the hike anyway.
There's a large gravel lot at the trailhead next to the freeway,
and there were only about a half dozen other cars on this Friday
morning. It was a nice sunny late September morning as I got
started. Because of the thick forest, however, the hike was
relatively dark at the beginning. Not like actually dark, but
let's just say you won't need any sunscreen at the start.
Trailhead
Forest
Sun shining into the forest
The trail climbs from the start, but with a reasonable grade as
the trail lazily switchbacks up the mountain. I passed one pair
of hikers, but often had the trail to myself on the way up.
There are signposts every quarter mile to let you know how far
you've gone.
Obscured view of the coast
It's pretty much impossible to get lost on the trail. Ferns
cover much of the ground except where the trail is, So you
can't really make a wrong turn. After about a mile, I came to
the start of the loop. To the left is the eastern side, and to the
right is the western side. I took the trail to the left to do
the loop clockwise.
Forest and trail
Because of the thick forest, there wasn't much in the way of views
on the way up. On one or two occasions I could look northwest
toward the ocean, but they were fleeting distant glances.
Looking up from the trail
As I went further up, the sun started to penetrate the forest a bit
more, and I could actually see rays of sunlight more frequently.
After about 2.75 miles of hiking from the trailhead, I reached a
short spur trail to the summit. I turned left to reach the summit,
where there were three sets of benches spaced out. All of them were
presently occupied, so I sat my pack on the ground and enjoyed the
views.
The views were actually better than I had hoped. There's a nice
view to the southeast of the Oregon coast. There are also slightly
obscured views of the coast to the northwest, as well.
View to the southeast from Humbug Mountain summit
View to the northwest
Another view from the summit
Shortly, one of the benches cleared up and I sat down and enjoyed
a brief snack. After enjoying the views, I returned to the loop
trail and turned left to descend the western side. This side seemed
slightly steeper in places, and had generally better views than
the eastern side, but the views were still obscured.
Obscured view from the western trail
I passed a few sets of hikers on the way down, as more people
seemed to be hiking later in the day. After ending the loop,
I continued down the main trail for another mile to reach the parking
lot.
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